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Originally posted 10/08/2005Revised 10 May 2006, 15 March 2007, 12th October 2007 and 26th March 2008.

Following the recent confusion and numerous complaints we have received about advertising on the forum we have decided to adopt the following policy.

First of all there is a difference between mentioning a company that has provided a good (or bad) service to a member (we want people to feel free to be able to discuss such issues) and blatant advertising of a business. By business, we are not including those long standing, established and participating members who have moved over to live in Turkey and who wish to offer their services/skills to other members via the 'Shopping Mall/Services' section. As a reward for their contributions to the forum these members will be allowed to promote their businesses as they strive to settle into their new life as ex pats.

In the case of a company providing a really bad service we would prefer that you email us your complaint/experience before posting it on the forum so that we can try and help to resolve any outstanding problems and also give the company an opportunity to respond to any criticisms. This will help to minimise the potential for legal action and it will also help to protect both the member and the company (where relevant) from any unnecessary unpleasantness and damage to reputations.

In respect of Estate Agents, again we are quite happy for Agencies to be mentioned where members are sharing their personal experience. However, we do not want the forum to become an advertising vehicle for Estate Agents, Developers or Property related businesses, this is not what absolutely altinkum is about. Consequently, we will not accept memberships from any Estate Agents/Developers or connected parties. AA is a community forum for members to meet, share information, have fun and develop friendships. We do not want people joining to advertise their own (or their friends) pet Agent, latest development, Bar or new business etc. So as far as advertising is concerned any self-promotion or blatant promotion of a specific Agency/business unless it has been cleared through us first will be edited or deleted and the person's membership may also be deleted without notice. Web/hyperlinks to Estate Agents/Developers websites will be removed.

We are a completely independent forum and have no business interests in Altinkum in any way shape or form; the forum is funded out of our own pockets and from voluntary donations kindly given by members and we have no plans to change this.

We are happy for Members to post details of any property they own which they wish to sell or rent, subject to them having been a member for more than one month or having made at least 25 postings. Also no more than 2 properties per member may be advertised. We appreciate that a number of members purchased a second property for investment purposes and therefore feel it would be unfair to limit such 'advertising' to one property per member. However, where members own more than two properties, the line between investment for personal reasons and investment for commercial reasons becomes distinctly blurred and makes it more difficult for us to identify those members who are in effect running a business, the promotion of which would be contrary to forum policy. The limitation of two properties per member has thus been introduced to avoid such complications arising.

Finally, if anyone is unsure about whether information they wish to post is acceptable or would be considered as advertising, they should email any of the Admins or ourselves before posting the information on the forum.

We hope this information clarifies the position re: advertising on the forum. We don't want to introduce lots of rules and regulations as we feel this would stifle the very relaxed and informal feel of the forum. However, we intend to robustly enforce the limited number of rules detailed in our Forum and Advertising policies and our decisions will be final and not subject to further debate on or off the forum.

Essentially, we want absolutely altinkum to remain an independent and informative forum where friends meet to share information and have fun without any 'in your face' advertising. This is why we have not signed up for any of the usual income generating ads (eg: google) and any promotions we run on the forum are purely for the benefit of members and to enhance the forum funds. This way we can ensure members receive fair and unbiased information from the absolutely altinkum forum.

The Forum Owners/Administrators' decisions in all matter relating to the Membership and policies of this forum will be final and not subject to further debate on or off the forum.